Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology
Human Nature and Conduct is John Dewey’s systematic statement of a naturalistic and pragmatist ethics rooted in habit, impulse, and intelligence, arguing that moral conduct emerges from the interaction of biological dispositions with social institutions, and that ethical reflection is an experimental, forward-looking inquiry aimed at reconstructing habits and environments rather than applying fixed, abstract rules.
At a Glance
- Author
- John Dewey
- Composed
- c. 1918–1921
- Language
- English
- Status
- copies only
- •Habits, not innate fixed moral faculties or pure reason, are the primary drivers of human conduct; they are socially formed, plastic, and can be critically reconstructed through reflective inquiry.
- •Impulses are raw energies or tendencies that become morally significant only as they are organized through habits and social institutions; they are neither inherently good nor evil but must be intelligently directed.
- •Character and moral responsibility should be understood in terms of the interaction among impulse, habit, and environment, rather than as an expression of an isolated, sovereign will; this shifts ethical focus from judging individuals to reforming social conditions and habits.
- •Intelligence functions as experimental deliberation: moral reflection is a process of imaginative projection of possible consequences and testing of habits in experience, not the deduction of action from fixed moral laws or ideals.
- •Freedom and moral progress consist in the capacity to critically modify habits and reshape environments using intelligence, rejecting both deterministic fatalism and the myth of an unconditioned free will in favor of a socially embedded, reconstructive conception of agency.
The work has come to be regarded as one of Dewey’s central ethical writings and an important statement of pragmatist moral philosophy. It helped shift Anglo-American ethics toward a naturalistic, empirically informed understanding of character, habit, and social institutions, influencing subsequent developments in social psychology, educational theory, democratic political thought, and later virtue- and practice-oriented ethics. Its analysis of habit and environment anticipates later work in behavioral science, sociology of knowledge, and critical social theory.
1. Introduction
Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology (1922) is a philosophical treatise by John Dewey that links ethics, psychology, and social theory. It explores how human behavior is shaped less by an isolated inner will or fixed moral laws than by habits, impulses, and intelligence operating within social environments.
Dewey frames moral life as a continuous process of interaction between biological tendencies and institutional arrangements. Conduct is treated as a natural phenomenon: actions are understood as learned responses, structured patterns of behavior, and experimental adjustments to changing conditions. Ethical questions—what people ought to do, how character is formed, what freedom means—are therefore investigated through a naturalistic and pragmatist lens.
The work is often described as Dewey’s most systematic statement of his moral philosophy. It develops a distinctive account of:
- How habits constitute character and guide perception and choice
- How impulses disrupt settled routines and create possibilities for change
- How intelligence functions as imaginative, experimental inquiry into future consequences
Rather than offering a code of rules, Human Nature and Conduct proposes a method for understanding and revising conduct, emphasizing the reform of habits and institutions as central to ethical life.
2. Historical and Intellectual Context
Pragmatism and Progressive Era Reform
The book emerged during the American Progressive Era, when questions about industrialization, democracy, and education were intense. Dewey’s pragmatism, developed alongside thinkers such as Charles S. Peirce and William James, emphasized experience, experimentation, and the practical consequences of ideas. Human Nature and Conduct applies these themes to moral life, aligning with contemporary movements for social and educational reform.
Developments in Psychology and Social Science
Dewey wrote against the backdrop of early social psychology, behaviorism, and emerging sociology. Proponents note affinities between his emphasis on habit and contemporary behaviorist accounts of learning, though Dewey retained a richer conception of meaning and reflection. His attention to institutions and cultural patterns also paralleled sociological analyses of norm formation and socialization.
Ethical and Philosophical Debates
The work responds to several ethical traditions:
| Tradition / Current | Dewey’s Targeted Issue (as seen by commentators) |
|---|---|
| Intuitionism | Reliance on self-evident moral truths or faculties |
| Kantian deontology | Priority of fixed duties independent of context |
| Utilitarianism | Aggregation of pleasures without focus on habits and institutions |
| Idealism | Appeal to transcendent ends apart from empirical inquiry |
Interpreters argue that Dewey sought a path between moral absolutism and relativism by rooting value in changing but criticizable social practices. Critics, however, sometimes see his naturalism as too closely tied to prevailing norms.
3. Author and Composition
Dewey’s Intellectual Position
By the late 1910s, John Dewey was a leading figure in American philosophy and educational theory, teaching at Columbia University. Human Nature and Conduct belongs to his “middle period,” during which he articulated a mature pragmatist naturalism and increasingly tied ethics to democratic and educational concerns.
Genesis and Writing Process
The book grew out of lectures and essays on ethics, social psychology, and education delivered in the 1910s. Scholars suggest that Dewey’s involvement in debates over World War I, industrial democracy, and schooling informed the work’s emphasis on institutions and collective habits. The text was composed roughly between 1918 and 1921 and published in 1922 by Henry Holt and Company.
| Aspect | Details (as generally reported) |
|---|---|
| Primary setting | Columbia University, New York |
| Precursor materials | Ethics lectures, articles on habit, democracy, and education |
| First publication | 1922, Henry Holt and Company |
| Standard critical edition | The Middle Works, vol. 14 (ed. Jo Ann Boydston, 1983) |
Place in Dewey’s Oeuvre
Commentators often read Human Nature and Conduct together with Democracy and Education (1916) and later works such as Experience and Nature (1925). Within this corpus, it is typically regarded as Dewey’s most focused treatment of character, moral psychology, and the ethical implications of social institutions.
4. Structure and Central Arguments
Overall Organization
The work is divided into three main books, each centered on a key concept:
| Book | Title | Thematic Focus |
|---|---|---|
| I | The Place of Habit in Conduct | Habits, character, environment |
| II | The Place of Impulse in Conduct | Impulses, conflict, change |
| III | The Place of Intelligence in Conduct | Deliberation, institutions, social organization |
Book I: Habit and Conduct
Dewey argues that habits are acquired, socially formed dispositions that organize perception, feeling, and action. Rather than an autonomous will directing behavior from “within,” conduct is said to issue from an organized system of habits sustained by environments. Moral evaluation thus concerns the quality and consequences of habits, not an isolated faculty of choice.
Book II: Impulse and Reorganization
In the second book, impulses are described as biological or affective energies that surface when habits are blocked or environments change. They are not inherently good or bad; their value depends on how they are integrated with prior habits and social conditions. Crises and conflicts are interpreted as occasions where impulses can either lead to regression or to creative reconstruction of conduct.
Book III: Intelligence and Moral Inquiry
The final book develops a theory of intelligence as experimental deliberation. Moral reflection is characterized as the imaginative projection and assessment of possible consequences, aiming to revise habits and reshape institutions. Freedom is recast in terms of the capacity for such critical reconstruction rather than absence of causal determination.
5. Key Concepts and Famous Passages
Habit
Habit is central to the work. Dewey treats habits not as mere mechanical routines but as complex, socially acquired patterns that structure how people see situations and what they find desirable. A frequently cited passage characterizes habit as the “technics of our lives,” emphasizing its role in making action efficient and often unconscious.
“We are the victims or the beneficiaries of our own habits, according as we form them with reference to intelligent purposes or not.”
— John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct, Book I
Impulse
Impulse denotes raw drives and feelings that become salient when habits fail. In one well-known discussion, Dewey calls impulse the “pivot and fulcrum of reorganization of habits,” highlighting how frustration and novelty can open the way to new modes of conduct.
Intelligence and Deliberation
Dewey’s account of intelligence centers on deliberation as imaginative rehearsal:
“Deliberation... is an experiment in finding out what the various lines of possible action are really like.”
— John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct, Book II
Commentators often cite this as illustrating his rejection of deliberation as mere internal debate between fixed preferences.
Institutions as Organized Habits
In Book III, Dewey famously describes institutions—family, school, state, industry—as systems of organized habits. These passages argue that institutions can either nurture or stifle intelligence, and they have been widely discussed in studies of his social and political thought.
6. Legacy and Historical Significance
Influence on Ethics and Social Philosophy
Human Nature and Conduct is commonly regarded as one of Dewey’s most influential ethical works. It contributed to a shift in Anglophone moral philosophy toward naturalistic and practice-oriented approaches, influencing later virtue ethics, theories of character education, and discussions of moral psychology. Proponents see its focus on habit and environment as anticipating contemporary work in behavioral science and social theory.
Impact on Psychology, Education, and Social Science
The book has been cited in the development of social psychology, educational theory, and sociology. Its analysis of socialization, institutional roles, and the plasticity of conduct has been taken up by scholars studying learning, organizational culture, and democratic participation. Educators have drawn on Dewey’s account of habit formation and reflective inquiry to support project-based and experiential pedagogies.
Critical Assessments
Scholarly reception has been mixed on certain points:
| Line of Critique | Main Concern (as reported) |
|---|---|
| Responsibility and agency | Emphasis on habit may weaken individual moral accountability |
| Normativity and relativism | Rejection of fixed principles may blur criteria for criticism |
| Power and institutions | Confidence in reform and intelligence may understate structural constraints |
| Religious and deontological perspectives | Naturalism may neglect duties and intrinsic moral worth |
Despite these debates, commentators widely agree that Human Nature and Conduct remains a key text for understanding pragmatist ethics and for contemporary discussions of how social conditions shape human behavior and moral life.
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